(1) In General. Within the United States or within a territory or
insular possession subject
to theUnited States jurisdiction of the United States,
depositionsa deposition must be taken
before;

(A) an officer authorized to administer oaths either by the laws of
this stateNorth Dakota
or of the United Statesfederal law or of theby
the law in the place where theof examination
is held, or;

(B)before a person appointed by the court in
whichwhere the action is pending. A person
so appointed has power to administer oaths and take testimony. Depositions
may also be
taken before; or

(C) a person commissioned by the court or under a letter of request under
subdivisions (b)
and (c).

(2) Definition of "Officer." The term "officer" as used in Rules
30, 31, and 32 includes
a person appointed by the court under this rule or designated by the parties under Rule
29.

(b) In foreign countries.

(1) In General.DepositionsA deposition may be taken
in a foreign country:

(1)(A) under aan applicable
treaty or convention, or;

(2)(B) under a letter of request,(whether or not captioned a "letter rogatory"),
or;

(3)(C) on notice, before a person authorized to
administer oaths either by North Dakota or
federal law or by the law in the place where theof examination
is held, either by the law
thereof or by the law of the United States,; or

(4)(D) before a person commissioned by the court, and
a person so commissioned has the
power by virtue of the commission to administer any necessary oath and take testimony.

(c) Commission or letterLetter of Request or
Commission.

(1) In General. A commission or a letter of request, a
commission, or bothmustmay be
issued:

(A) on appropriate terms after anon application and
notice,of it; and

(B)on terms that are just and appropriate. It is not requisite to the issuance
of a commission
or a letter of requestwithout a showing that the taking
of the deposition in any otheranother
matter is impracticable or inconvenient; and both a commission and a letter of request
may
be issued in proper cases.

(2) Form of Request, Notice, or Commission.A notice or commission
may designate the
person before whom the deposition is to be taken either by name or descriptive title. A letter
of request may be addressed "To the Appropriate Authority in [here name the state or
country]." When a letter of request or any other device is used underaccording to a treaty
or convention, it must be captioned in the form prescribed by that treaty or convention. A
letter of request may be addressed "To the Appropriate Authority in [name of state or
country]." A deposition notice or a commission must designate by name or descriptive title
the person before whom the deposition is to be taken,

(3) Letter of Request­Admitting Evidence. Evidence obtained in a
foreign country under
a commission or in response to a letter of request need not be excluded merely because
it is
not a verbatim transcript, because the testimony was not taken under oath, or because of
any
similar departure from the requirements for depositions taken under these rules.

(d) Disqualification for interest. NoA
deposition maymust not be taken before a person
who is aany party's relative, employee, or attorney or counsel
of any of the parties, or; who
is a relative or employee of thatrelated to or employed by any party's
attorney or counsel,; or who is financially interested in the action.

Rule 28 is identical to Rule 28, FRCivP, except for the addition to subdivision (a)
of a
reference to persons authorized to administer oaths by the laws of this state and the second
to the last sentence which makes clear that depositions may be taken before a person
commissioned by the court or under a letter of request in the United States as well as in
foreign countries; and separation of subdivision (b) into two parts. After the division of
subdivision (b) into two parts, it is now clear that a commission or letter of request may be
issued for use in the United States and in foreign countries. The new subdivision (c) specifies
the procedure for issue of a commission or letter of request. A minor change was made to
indicate that the letter should be addressed to the appropriate authority in a state or country.
Also, the last sentence of subdivision (c) provides that only evidence obtained in a foreign
country under these procedures need not be excluded because of the listed defectsderived
from Fed.R.Civ.P. 28.

Rule 28 was amended, effective _______________, in response to the December 1,
2007,
revision of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The language and organization of the rule
were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology
consistent throughout the rules.

Subdivision (b) was amended, effective March 1, 1990. The amendment is technical in
nature and no substantive change is intended.

Subdivisions (b) and (c) were amended, effective March 1, 1996, to follow the 1993 federal
amendment. A substantive change is not intended by the switch in terminology from "letter
rogatory" to "letter of request."